Each day, the gaming industry uses an untold number of playing cards. Decks of cards are typically distributed to gaming tables and used for a limited amount of time (e.g., a few hours, a day, etc.). After that amount of time, the cards are collected. To monitor possible fraud and cheating, the collected cards may be counted to determine whether any cards have been added or removed from the distributed decks. Additionally, the collected cards may be marked or destroyed to prevent use in a future live game.
In some casinos, gaming tables may be assigned as many as fifty (50) decks of cards depending on the needs of each game. By using a large number of decks, casinos can maintain a high quality and integrity level of the cards at each table. Specifically, because each card is likely to be used only once, the risk of card tampering is reduced and casino clients are assured that the cards they are handling are new. The decks of cards are shuffled together and placed in a prepared stack for each game. At the end of each day, the decks are collected and marked as used or destroyed. Due to the large number of decks that are assigned to each gaming table, many cards in those decks may remain unused. Nevertheless, those unused cards are collected along with the used cards and marked or destroyed at the end of each day.
Cards that are marked are redistributed or repurposed (e.g., made available for charity giveaways, resale as souvenirs, etc.). U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,153, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus for automatic cancellation and sorting of used or new playing cards by collecting cards following use in a casino game, marking the cards so that they cannot be reused in a casino game, and sorting the cards into decks for sale or distribution to the public. As disclosed in that patent, marking may be accomplished by using a card cancelling device such as a punch die, a cutting device, or other device for permanently including a mark indicative of cancellation on a card. But, even when cards are marked for redistribution, the cost of marking each card is significant and the original value of each card is never recovered. As a result, unused cards represent a substantial loss for casinos each year.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,632 discloses an automatic card sorter designed to shuffle cards for reuse or to sort the cards into decks for redistribution. Nevertheless, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,153, the apparatus has several disadvantages, including: (i) the use of a large number of trays (specifically, fifty-two (52)), which adds to the size and complexity of the apparatus; and (ii) the need to move each of the trays into position, one at a time, to receive cards, which results in a sorting process that is relatively inefficient for many types of sortings. Moreover, the apparatus disclosed in the '632 patent is not capable of inspecting and verifying the condition of a card such as determining whether the card has a flaw (e.g., a marking, an indent, a cut, a hole, graffiti, etc.) that may allow someone to gain advantage during a game.
In addition, some casinos use different types of cards for different games. For example, cards with different designs may be used at the blackjack tables and the baccarat tables. Intermixing decks of different types of cards can cause confusion and provide some players with an unfair advantage. Accordingly, casinos often sort cards of each type separately. However, the effort and expense of keeping track of cards of each type is significant. As disclosed in the '153 patent, header cards can be used to separate decks into groups (e.g., decks that originate from different gaming tables). The header cards include barcodes or other markings for identification. Nevertheless, problems arise when a card of a first type is accidentally or intentionally introduced into a stack of cards of another type. Locating the dissimilar card in that stack of cards is a costly and labor-intensive process; therefore, the entire stack of cards may be destroyed to prevent potential confusion and manipulation.
Thus, from an efficiency and cost standpoint, there exists a need for a more robust manner of sorting and recovering cards, especially cards that have been designated for disposal after having not been used after a day at the casino.